Despite being pushed all the way by GC rival Florian Lipowitz (Red Bull-Bora-hansgrohe), French sensation Paul Seixas sprinted to the win on stage five of Itzulia Basque Country.
This was the 19-year-old Decathlon CMA CGM rider's third stage win of the race, which finishes tomorrow with another mountains stage.
Lipowitz's team-mate Primoz Roglič finished 1:11 behind with the chasers, and slips to third on GC at 3:40 while Lipowitz moves into second behind Seixas at 2:30.
Speaking afterwards, Seixas said: "Florian Lipowitz took a turn at the front once he realized Primož Roglič wasn’t going to make it back, which allowed me to manage my effort just a little bit ahead of the sprint.
"It came down to a head-to-head battle," he said. "He was very strong and put in a solid attack in the final stretch, but I hung on. Having the yellow jersey in the team is fantastic! It creates an enormous amount of motivation and we are all incredibly happy. My teammates are giving 200% so that the team can keep this leader's jersey; above all, we’re a group of friends, and that’s the beauty of cycling."
With three cat-one climbs and five cat-threes – adding up to more than 4,000m of climbing, this fifth stage based on Eibar was always going to be a tough day out. But it's the sort of terrain that Seixas thrives on and he clearly had designs on the win, as well as preserving his yellow jersey lead.
He was pushed hard than he might have expected, though, with Lipowitz leading the attacks on the penultimate climb of Izua and then clinging confidently and resolutely to Seixas – himself a fine descender – on the downhills.
A final cat-three climb apparently did not offer enough resistance to force an attack, and the pair ultimately fought things out in a two-up drag race in the streets of Eibar.
Tomorrow is the final stage and another, slightly easier, day in the low mountains comprising six cat two and cat-three climbs. With all Seixas's rivals more than two minutes off the pace, it would take a dramatic turn of events to unseat him.
Results
Itzulia Basque Country stage 5, Eibar > Eibar, 176.2km
1. Paul Seixas (Fra) Decathlon CMA CGM, 176.2km in 4:30:02
2. Florian Lipowitz (Ger) Red Bull-Bora-hansgrohe, at s.t.
3. Javier Romo (Spa) Movistar, +1:03
4. Primož Roglič (Slo) Red Bull-Bora-hansgrohe, +1:11
5. Kévin Vauquelin (Fra) Ineos Grenadiers
6. Ion Izagirre (Spa) Cofidis
7. Harold Tejada (Col) XDS-Astana
8. Tobias Halland Johannessen (Nor) Uno-X Mobility
9. Clément Champoussin (Fra) XDS-Astana
10. Pello Bilbao (Spa) Bahrain Victorious, all at same time
General Classification after stage five
1. Paul Seixas (Fra) Decathlon CMA CGM, in 16:33:45
2. Florian Lipowitz (Ger) Red Bull-Bora-hansgrohe, +2:30
3. Primož Roglič (Slo) Red Bull-Bora-hansgrohe, +3:40
4. Ion Izagirre (Spa) Cofidis, +3:50
5. Alex Beaudin (Fra) EF Education, +4:12
6. Harold Tejada (Col) XDS-Astana, +4:29
7. Cian Uijtdebroeks (Bel) Movistar, +4:42
8. Clément Champoussin (Fra) XDS-Astana, +4:43
9. Pello Bilbao (Spa) Bahrain Victorious, +5:03
10. Javier Romo (Spa) Movistar, +5:05
